An old girlfriend was very into folk stuff, like shape note singing and contra dancing.

I can't sing worth a crap so I never joined in on those, but I went to the contras occasionally when she asked me, and it wasn't bad. It gets you active and burning calories (something subby should try sometime), it's kinda fun, and she didn't care that I was often dancing with some very attractive girls, because the unwritten rule is you never partner the same person twice in an evening.

Plus it's one of the only kinds of dancing I can reliably do (that and ballroom), as they pretty much TELL you what to do and when to do it, and I can't handle the rhythmic flailing that most people like so much.

I've spent the last six months hiking the Appalachian Trail and going to contra / square dances from Georgia to Maine, so I should be getting a kick outta this.

DemonEater:Plus it's one of the only kinds of dancing I can reliably do (that and ballroom), as they pretty much TELL you what to do and when to do it, and I can't handle the rhythmic flailing that most people like so much.

This too... the easiest form of dancing to get into, easy to get the basics but plenty of advanced flourishes and variants to the basic choreography. The communities built around social dancing are home to excellent folks, too.